


Other Worlds: Right-hand Bird

by ghostlybirds



Series: Other Worlds - Side Stories [1]
Category: Original Work, Starbound (Video Game)
Genre: A single light curse word, Conversations, Gen, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Mention of Background Characters, Monkey Character, Outer Space, Space Stations, Spaceships, bird character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-03
Updated: 2019-10-03
Packaged: 2020-11-22 15:04:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20876183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostlybirds/pseuds/ghostlybirds
Summary: Resident crew member, jack-of-all-trades, and sweet bird man Chico gets a call to the bridge of his spaceship from the pilot, drunkard and resident trickster minkey, Garrett.





	Other Worlds: Right-hand Bird

"'Ey, can I get Chico to the bridge?"

The speaker system broadcasts the voice of the ship's pilot out throughout the space station, and the top of said Chico's head plumage twitches at the mention of his name. The bird stretches, lifting his arms above his head. After a gentle exhale from his beak and a liftoff from his desk in his quarters, the ship's handyman was on the move!

Chico walks down the halls of the personal quarters, his brown and white feathers being oversaturated by violet, pink and orange hues of space to his right. As he walked, he wondered what exactly what Garrett needed; the minkey pilot didn't sound drunk /yet/, and no information was announced about the ship entering a storm or anything like that. Most of the rooms were empty, which gave him a bit of relief. Last thing Chico wanted to do was gamble whether or not Iris would eat him. Jury was still out on how friendly she really was, especially after rations were as low as they were a month ago. Io's quarters looked to be occupied as the bird walked past, but there was a lock on the door, and some pretty loud synth music playing from inside... maybe she and Rinzler were spending some downtime?

Chico enters the rec room of the ship from the hallway leading to the quarters, taking gentle steps past couches and tables. There was a chess game all set out with a bishop piece toppled over, and as the bird passed by, he picked the piece up carefully and placed it back upright, before continuing on toward the front of the station. Not too far now. The smell of what seemed to be dinner filled the air, and Chico hummed with exuberance. Hanzo was making something delicious... something with umami and tang, perhaps even meaty? Good, at least the more... homicidal of the crew would be satisfied tonight.

The door leading to the bridge opens upon detecting Chico's presence, and the bird steps in, speaking out, "Garrett? You needed me?" He looked around the room, not quite noticing the pilot's position as soon as he entered. He definitely wasn't in the cockpit, and before he can take another step forward, Garrett's upside down face meets his, and the bird recoils. "AHHH! Stop that!"

"Heh, got 'em." Garrett only grins wide before flipping off of the top platform above the door of the bridge, placing his hands on his hips as he dismounts. "I need an extra pair of hands mapping the trip to the next sector for autopilot, got a minute?"

After a few breaths in, Chico nods and presses his hand to his chest gently after being surprised to compose himself. "S-sure!" The bird wandered over to the navigation console and turned it on from sleep mode. The autopilot seemed to have routed through a small chunk of the way there: the beginning and end were highlighted, but there were a few paths they could take that could depend on orbits, time, and, potentially, hostile life. Granted, the latter was highly unlikely, as this part of the galaxy had been labeled as neutral, but... they couldn't put their guard down. "Alright, how far away from the sector are we?"

The minkey got back into his seat from atop the headrest and stretched out, letting his opposable toes guide the ship along the path highlighted on his console. "Mmmmm, rough estimate? 'Bout 40,000 clicks, bud. It'll be another week b'fore we even get there without light speed, but I'd rather have that charted out ASAP." Garrett yawns, scratching his stomach over his clothes and not even bothering to get up from his reclined position. "Can ya' check 'n see if we're about to hit a batch of solar winds or somethin' on our way there?"

"On it!" Chico gladly smiles, hands tapping over the holographic keyboard in front of him, lighting his fingers blue when they hit. Expanding the galaxy map out from the next sector and bringing it to their current position, checking their immediate and incoming space weather. "Mmmm, no, not really seeing anything potentially harmful... wait, there's a few ring systems you're going to want to avoid on your trajectory. Here, hold on..." His hand talon slides across the path he's currently taking, sort of drawing a safe path outside of the debris.

"... Huh. Dunno how we didn't catch that. Thanks, Cheeks." Garrett smirks, leaning his head back and giving him a thumbs up before sitting up right and properly piloting the ship. "Lemme know when ya' get that mapped out for me, 'n I'll treat ya' to my secret stash."

Chico smiles nervously, a little... distraught at the nickname. "P-please don't call me that. I don't really want that to stick."

"Aw, c'mon! You, Rinzler 'n Hanzo are the only ones that have long enough names for nicknames; Rinz's was given to him by Io, 'n Hanzo... well, let's just say he doesn't react to Hanz as much as you react to Cheeks, hehe."

Chico's feathers ruffle just the slightest at hearing it again, letting out a defeated sigh. "F-Fine, just... just between us, okay? If I hear Io or Lana call me that....!"

"Yeah, yeah. No booze for a week, I know." He groans slouching over the wheel as he stares out to the nebulae and atom clouds dotting his red and orange fur with greens and blues. "... Speakin' of which...?"

"No. We don't need another asteroid field situation, Garrett."

The pilot grumbles, brushing his mane back with his left hand. The next half an hour is spent routing the path and passing small talk; how close Io and Rinzler were getting, Garrett betting who was going to get into a fight with who next (with big money on Iris and Hanzo), and their next mission from command. Before long, the work was done and ready, and Chico stood up from the charting console. "Alright, there you go! Should be mapped for the next sector."

"Awesome, thanks for the help, bud!" Garrett looks back, giving another confident thumbs up to the ship's jack-of-all-trades. A ping comes from the speaker system, and the familiar, rich tone of Hanzo's voice follows. "Grub's up, everyone." A chuckle comes from the pilot seat, and the minkey's hand presses the big red button on the wheel, reading "AUTO". Garret stretches after sitting for so long, tail wagging slowly as he does so. "Hell yeah. I was wondering when that smell would pay off."

The pilot heads off, walking a bit quickly to try and beat the gluttonous insect/plant/murder-happy crew member to their food. Chico lingered in the bridge, looking back to the chair to see Garrett's jacket barely hanging to the pilot seat... He neatly places it around the shoulders of the chair before stepping out, leaving the cockpit and the bridge behind him to catch up with the crew for the day.

**Author's Note:**

> All of the characters present and mentioned in this piece are OCs of syntheticcangel; they do great work, and got me inspired to get me out of my writing rut. Check em out if you like cute girls, robots, space travel or all the above! You can find their art on twitter here: https://twitter.com/syntheticcangel?s=09 
> 
> If you want to read another fic involving two of the mentioned characters in this fic, Io and Rinzler, check this one out! I guarantee you'll enjoy it if you liked this one. https://archiveofourown.org/works/20459462
> 
> As for me, you can check my twitter here for nerdy retweets of Synth's stuff and a whole bunch of other fandom and jokey stuff: https://twitter.com/ghostlybirds?s=09
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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